Globetrotting in the Movies Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Bob and Bing, with the help of Dorothy Lamour, made seven 'Road to' films in total with 'The Road to Singapore' being the first, in 1940. 'The Road to Morocco' was the third in the sequence with the trio being in North Africa. Even if you didn't know the third film, the next film mentioned in the tale should have helped since Casablanca is located in Morocco. This 1942 film was directed by Michael Curtiz and starred Humphrey Bogart as an ex-pat bar owner in the city of the title during the Second World War. He was in love with Ingrid Bergman's character while Paul Heinreid played her husband.

Spain isn't far from North Africa and the next film in our journey is set there, with Woody Allen being the director of 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' in 2008. The film starred Scarlet Johansson and Rebecca Hall as the women in the title who meet a Spanish man (played by Javier Bardem) and his ex-wife (Penelope Cruz) before embarking on a complicated relationship involving all four of them. Paris is further north, and the film which uses this location is 'An American in Paris', filmed in 1951 and starring Gene Kelly. Vincente Minnelli was the director on this musical romcom about an American trying to make a living as an artist in the French capital.

Belgium borders France and is where the city of Bruges is located. 'In Bruges' is a 2008 film starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as Irish hitmen hiding out in that city. Their boss is played by Ralph Fiennes who wants to kill Farrell's character, due to his killing of a child. 'Funeral in Berlin' is a 1966 film starring Michael Caine as the spy, Harry Palmer. Based on the novel of the same name, written by Len Deighton, the film is the second of three using the novels with Caine appearing in all of them. The plot revolves around Palmer trying to arrange the safe defection of a top Soviet spy at a time when Berlin was still divided by the infamous wall.

In the USA, we start off in Seattle, with the mention of Hanks and Ryan referring to 'Sleepless in Seattle', the romcom from 1993 directed by Nora Ephron. The plot involves a young boy who fixes a date for his widowed father (Hanks) with Meg Ryan's character. From rather longer ago, we have the 1939 film 'Mr Smith Goes to Washington' with James Stewart playing a new senator who has to fight corruption in government. Nothing much changes, then.

Richard Gere and Catherine Zeta-Jones are just two of the high profile stars of the musical film 'Chicago', which was released in 2002. Zeta-Jones plays one of two women who have been convicted of killing their respective partners - Renee Zellweger plays the other. Richard Gere plays Billy Flynn, the lawyer who represents both women. 'Leaving Las Vegas' dates from 1995, with Nicolas Cage portraying an alcoholic who has decided to drink himself to death in Las Vegas. The film also starred Elizabeth Shue.

'Dallas Buyers Club' (2013) is based on a real life person who contracts AIDS in the 1980s, when it was close to a death sentence. Ron Woodroof is played by Matthew McConaughey who brings drugs from Mexico to Texas and sets up the club of the title to distribute them to fellow AIDS victims. He is able to extend his life by several years by his actions. Our final film set in the USA is 'Beverly Hills Cop', a 1984 film with Eddie Murphy playing a detective from Detroit. Already in trouble with his superiors, Murphy's character takes some leave and goes to Beverly Hills to unofficially investigate the murder of a childhood friend. This gets him involved with a drug smuggling gang with much mayhem ensuing.

Our last two visits take us to Mexico and Brazil. 'Fun in Acapulco' dates from 1963 and co-starred Ursula Andress. Elvis plays a former circus performer who ends up working as a lifeguard in Acapulco, where he meets Margarita Dauphin (Andress). The film includes Elvis's character making one of the cliff dives for which the resort is famous. The stunt was performed by a double, of course. In fact, Elvis wasn't allowed into Mexico at all, having been declared 'persona non grata'. We began with Bing and Bob so we'll end with them, using their fifth 'Road to' film as inspiration to take us to Rio de Janeiro. The film dates from 1947 with the pair stowing away on a ship to Rio where they become embroiled in various light-hearted escapades. Dorothy Lamour, of course, was one of the co-stars.